Dotted with damaged buildings, bars struggling to reopen, valleys unfolding after steep climbs, and squares emptied by silence—this was the landscape Roman comic artist Valerio Barchi traversed during his 14-day, 257-kilometer journey along the “Cammino nelle Terre Mutate” (Path Through Changed Lands). The route crosses through towns and cities devastated by earthquakes, from Fabriano to L’Aquila, two symbolic epicenters of destruction. He is due to arrive in the Abruzzo regional capital tomorrow, concluding an experience set to become a graphic novel in 2026, coinciding with the tenth anniversary of the Central Italy earthquake.
Armed with a sketchbook, the active Wikiloc app, and shoes worn down by elevation changes, the author journeyed through communities still healing from the seismic shocks.
“When I walk, I try to have no expectations,” Barchi recounts. “I let myself be surprised by the landscapes and the people I meet. Then, little by little, scenes come together and become a story.”
Setting out from Fabriano, the artist passed through Castelluccio di Norcia, Arquata del Tronto, Accumoli, and Amatrice, averaging twenty kilometers per day. Before entering L’Aquila, he will pass through the hamlet of Collebrincioni, his final stop before the destination.
He had packed his professional tools—watercolors—but by the second leg of the journey, he was forced to choose: “Either the drawings or my knee.” The weight of his supplies became too burdensome, compelling him to abandon the paints for later and focus instead on notes and quick sketches to be turned into full illustrations upon his return.
Among the most impactful places was Amatrice, the town in the province of Rieti that was largely destroyed in the 2016 tremors. “On one side, rubble still on the ground; on the other, the strength of small communities and associations keeping hope alive,” he observed. “It’s like embers under the ashes—life that continues despite everything.”
His stops became moments of listening—in Matelica, Camerino, Norcia, and the hardest-hit areas of Rieti. He collected stories without a pre-written script, walking with the attention of someone who seeks to see and understand. “In the end, I’ll have to find a common thread. Maybe it will come to me on the final leg, as I enter L’Aquila,” he explains.
Born in Rome in 1985, Barchi lived abroad for fourteen years, working as a postman in the Netherlands, a waiter in Istanbul, and a street artist in Taiwan. After returning to Italy, he chose watercolor as his medium for narrating journeys. He is the author of works like ‘Ginostra’, ‘Bona Via!’, ‘Fogarina’, ‘Fango’, and ‘Agata fuori le mura’. This is not his first time transforming a trek into a comic; he previously did so with the Via Francigena pilgrimage route, recounted in panels blending history, encounters, and landscapes (‘Bona Via!’).
This latest project was inspired by a university workshop on social design, which from the outset centered on preserving the memory of earthquake-affected communities. “I knew little about the L’Aquila earthquake because I was in India at the time,” admits Barchi. “I knew about the Student House, the collapses, the basilica—but not how the quake shaped daily life in the years that followed. I am here to understand that.” To see with his own eyes and draw with his own hands.